


A Pocket Full of Sunshine

by nemuitaiga



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M, after winter cup, boys being dumb, kagakise, some aokuro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-27
Updated: 2013-03-27
Packaged: 2017-12-06 16:16:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/737647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nemuitaiga/pseuds/nemuitaiga
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Winter Cup Games, Kise keeps turning up at their basketball practices. Kagami finds it annoying at first, but then he starts thinking about Kise more than normal. It’s not a crush, is it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Pocket Full of Sunshine

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt at the kurobas tumblr meme.

Even though the Winter Cup Games are over and there aren’t any more major basketball competitions for a while, Coach Riko still insists on dragging the entire Seirin team back into the gym for more practice. There are a few grumbles and sour looks at this, but Kagami finds himself looking forward to hitting the court once more. He loves basketball, and doesn’t think anything could distract him from playing it.

His good mood, however, wavers a little when he walks into the school gym to find a group of girls gathered in a circle near the stage at the front. Kagami frowns, his steps slowing down as he observes them in vague curiosity, wondering why they are here. It is only when the group parts a little to reveal a familiar face that he understands why.

“Kise-san, can you please sign my book?” Kagami hears one of the girls ask.

The boy she’s addressing smiles at her, his voice as bright as his blond hair. “Of course! Anything for you lovely girls, you’re all so sweet!” A sigh of contentment rises from other girls at this.

Kagami recognizes the boy now: it’s Kise Ryouta, Kaijou High School’s top basketball player, a member of the Generation of Miracles and also Kuroko’s ex-teammate. And as if that’s not enough, Kise works as a model as well, which explains the group of girls currently surrounding him adoringly.

Kagami is struck by a sense of _deja vu_ ; this entire scene looks no different than the first time Kise had made his presence known to the Seirin basketball team months ago. The fangirls, the way Kise is soaking in their adoration and devotion. Back then, Kise, who had also been a member of the Generation of Miracles with Kuroko in their old middle school, had beaten Kagami during their one-on-one by copying his own playing style, and there stood there mockingly denouncing the team’s lack of challenge.

(That was before Seirin had gone on to beat Kaijou in their first match, in which Kise had appeared more humbled after that.)

But why is Kise here again? It’s not like they have anything else to prove, with Kagami having beaten Kise twice after that first challenge. Perhaps he should ask Kuroko; Kise was his ex-teammate after all.

Thinking of Kuroko reminds Kagami that he hasn’t seen his basketball partner in the gym yet. “Kuroko, don’t tell me you’re late again,” he mutters.

“I’m already here, Kagami-kun,” a voice pipes up calmly from next to him, almost making Kagami leap away in shock.

“Eh, what the hell?” Kagami glares at the other boy, who is looking up at him innocently (hah!), his eyes large and wide and very blue. “Stop sneaking up on me, Kuroko!”

“I was with you since we left class,” Kuroko points out.

Kagami opens his mouth, ready to berate Kuroko for his ninja-like abilities (seriously, Kagami is going to get a heart attack one of these days, see how his partner likes that), when out of the corner of his eye, he notices that Kise has caught sight of them, and is tearing himself away from his adoring fans.

“Kurokocchi!” Kise squeals excitedly, flinging himself onto Kuroko. He drapes one arm over Kuroko’s shoulder, practically wrapping himself around the other boy’s smaller frame and ruffling his bright blue hair, while Kagami looks on in displeasure.

“Why the hell are you here?” Kagami asks gruffly. He’s never sure of how to deal with Kise’s flamboyant attitude and his apparent lack of personal space.

“Why not, Kagamicchi?” Kise beams at Kagami, while ruffling Kuroko’s head. “After all, Kurokocchi and I are best friends!”

Kuroko doesn’t seem to approve of Kise’s manhandling either, and ducks away from Kise’s hands.

“Kise-kun, we are not best friends,” Kuroko says calmly. He doesn’t look annoyed, but Kagami has been around him long enough to recognize the flat tone of his voice, signaling his irritation.

Kise apparently recognizes it as well. “Ahhh, Kurokocchi, why must you say such mean things,” Kise whines, his lower lip sticking out in a pout, but he backs off a little, giving Kuroko his required space.

“I was just stating facts, Kise-kun,” Kuroko says. Kise looks like he is about to protest this, but then the shrill sound of Riko’s whistle pierces the air, cutting him off

“Come on, Kuroko, we’ll be late,” Kagami grumbles before dragging Kuroko towards the center of the court where the others are hurriedly gathering around their coach, and leaving Kise behind.

As Riko launches into her pre-practice speech, Kagami can’t help but glance behind him, curiosity making him pick out Kise, who’s now seated cross-legged on top of the stage and chatting away with his fans. One of the girls has her hand on his arm, giving him coy looks.

And just then, right at that moment, Kise looks up and catches sight of Kagami staring, and _winks_ at him.

_What the hell?_

Kagami turns his head back towards Riko so fast he nearly gives himself whiplash. He can feel his cheeks heating up, and he has to take several deep breaths to calm down and focus on what Riko is saying.

Kagami resolves to put the odd behavior from Kise out of his mind. After all, it’s not like they’ll see him again after today.

* * *

At their next practice, however, Kise turns up, once more surrounded by his ‘fan club’.

It’s bizarre how no one else finds it odd that Kise is hanging out in the gym and watching their practices. Well, Hyuuga scowls a little, Kiyoshi looks amused, and Izuki maybe makes one of his puns once or twice but other than that, everyone seems to accept Kise being there.

Kagami shakes his head, feeling a little disgruntled. He’s been wasting too much time thinking about Kise ever since he started appearing at their practices. It’s not like they’re even competing against each other. He resolves to ignore Kise and just focus on basketball instead.

Kagami scores the first shot by catching Kuroko’s pass and slamming the ball into the hoop. He hears someone letting out a loud cheer, and turns around to find Kise on his feet.

Confused for moment, Kagami stares at Kise, who has his arms up in the air, flailing them in glee. Kise looks… _happy_ , and ecstatic, like an excited puppy, and Kagami feels his chest tighten a little at this. He doesn’t want to make Kise feel bad, so he awkwardly waves back, feeling slightly foolish.

Kise’s smile grows even bigger at this, brightening up the room.

“Oi, quit flirting around and play the game,” Hyuuga snarls at him as he snatches the ball up and begins dribbling to the other side of the court.

Sputtering, Kagami starts to protest Hyuuga’s choice of words -he was definitely _not_ flirting - but then Kuroko manages to slap the ball away from Hyuuga back towards Kagami. He slips back into his game mode, the faint echo of Kise’s smile lingering at the back of his mind.

* * *

On the third day of practice, Kise turns up again, this time followed by a significantly dwindling amount of fangirls.

Five minutes into their practice game, Kagami looks up to see Koganei shooting the ball wildly towards the basket. He swears and takes off at a run; Koganei’s aim is off by a mile and it’s going to take Kagami’s speed and skills to make sure the ball actually goes in instead of bouncing off the rim.

His sneakers squeak on the polished tiles loudly as he braces himself, before he leaps up to catch the ball and slam it in into the hoop. There are cheers all around, and he looks up to see Koganei giving him a thumbs-up, even though he had been the one who had nearly messed up the score.

But it’s the sight of Kise, his blond fringe falling across his face delicately, giving a smile of _pride_ that has Kagami’s heart skipping a beat briefly. He finds that he can’t move, can’t breathe, locked in place by Kise’s gaze. Kagami has not felt like this in a long time, not since a pair of dark eyes had looked at him in earnest, promising him the world, so very long ago.

Then, one of the girls in Kise’s group pulls at his arm, drawing him closer to whisper something into his ear. Kise glances over at her, smiling, and just like that, the spell is broken. Kagami turns away quickly, angry at himself for getting caught up in the moment.

It’s ridiculous, this odd infatuation that’s forming over Kise, and Kagami sternly tells himself to forget it. It might have been a little more accepted back in L.A., a guy liking a guy, but here in Japan, he knows that it’s still frowned upon. Besides, Kise could have anyone, any of the girls at his disposal, so why would he pay attention to Kagami?

The next time Kise cheers, Kagami doesn’t look over at him.

* * *

In retrospect, the day _could_ have started out a lot better.

Kagami wakes up that morning, sweating, while traces of a nightmare with Kise and Kuroko and all of his teammates laughing at him as he misses shot after shot still lingering in his mind. He hurries through his morning routine and rushes to school, slipping into his seat in time just before their teacher enters the classroom.

By the time he heads over to the gym for basketball practice, his day hasn’t improved at all. He had fallen asleep in class twice, and almost dumped his drink over one of his senpais during lunch. In the gym, he nearly trips over the laces of his sneakers which have come undone.

Kagami spends about five seconds glaring at his feet before hobbling over to the corner to deal with them. He finishes re-tying his laces when he hears the doors to the gym open, and he glances up to see Kise entering with his arm slung around Kuroko’s shoulder, leaning closely, intimately.

None of them seem to notice Kagami crouching over his sneakers in the corner nearby.

“Come on, Kurokocchi. Aominecchi has two - two! - extra tickets. He said you’ve always wanted to watch the show.” Kise winks. “It’ll be like a double date!” he adds cheerfully.

_Date?_ Kagami thinks, straightening up in shock, his mind trying to process what he had just heard. Kise, asking Kuroko on a date. Did that mean that he _was_ interested guys? But just… not Kagami?

Kuroko looks up, catching sight of Kagami staring at them. “Kise-kun, we should discuss this later,” he starts to say, but Kise continues to lean closer.

“Kurokocchi-”

“Kise-kun, please stop-” Kuroko insists, and glances at Kagami again.

Before he can stop himself, Kagami has one hand wrapped around Kise’s wrist, pulling him off and away from Kuroko.

“That’s enough, Kise,” Kagami says angrily. Kise’s skin is warm, and smooth underneath his grip, and Kagami hates how he wants to continue holding Kise, to maybe run his fingers across his palm.

Instead, he releases Kise quickly.

Kise blinks at him in shock. “Kagamicchi- “

It’s the name, the familiarity of it, that hurts and irritates him. It makes him feel worse to hear Kise calling him that, just as Kagami has already resolved to stop thinking of Kise as someone he could have. He responds harshly, without thinking, unable to stop himself.

“Oi, why do you have to be so fucking annoying? Don’t you have anywhere else to go?”

Kise reels back, as if he’d been hit. Even Kuroko looks startled, his eyes widening a little as he turns to stare at Kagami.

Crap. Why had he said that? He wasn’t thinking, hadn’t been thinking, and had just reacted-

The expression on Kise’s face causes Kagami’s insides to twist painfully.

Kise looks utterly crushed.

“Wait, Kise-” Kagami starts to say, wanting to apologize, to say _sorry, I’m sorry, I want you here_ , but Kise’s turning around now, mumbling, “I have to go, I’m sorry!”

The sound of the doors slamming shut echo through the gym, which has fallen into silence at Kagami’s outburst.

* * *

That night, Kagami stares up at his ceiling, wide awake even though he’s been trying to fall sleep for the past few hours. His mind goes back over the words he had thrown callously at Kise, and the look that had flickered across Kise’s face momentarily, looking out of place on his usually sunny and cheerful face. Kagami hates knowing it’s because of _him_ that Kise had looked like a kicked puppy.

A month ago he wouldn’t have cared, but lately, his feelings have changed.

Kagami switches between guilt and self-berating for the rest of the night, and by the time he finally slips into sleep, the alarm on his clock begins buzzing, waking him up again.

(If he’s a few minutes late in getting to class because he was using his mirror to practice his apology speech to Kise, he doesn’t admit it, not even to himself.)

Finally, when it’s time for practice, he heads to the gym eagerly with Kuroko trailing behind as usual, while looking out for that familiar blond head.

But there’s no Kise.

No shouts of “Kurokocchi” or “Kagamicchi” to greet them, no teasing smiles or coy looks thrown his way.

Kagami frowns, feeling a nagging, unfamiliar sort of discomfort

Ten minutes into practice, he’s still distracted by Kise’s lack of appearance that he doesn’t watch the ball, which ends up bouncing off his shoulder as he yelps in shock.

“Oi, Kagami, pay attention!” Hyuuga snaps at him.

Rubbing his shoulder, a retort ready at the tip of his tongue, Kagami looks up to see that Kuroko is staring at him curiously, his hands held at an angle after passing the ball to Kagami.

A pass, which Kagami had missed completely.

“Sorry, Kuroko,” Kagami said gruffly.

Six fumbled passes later, including a shot that misses the hoop entirely and ends up flying in a graceful arch to land in the bleachers instead, Riko ends practice with a sharp blow on her whistle. She then spends the next ten minutes lecturing Kagami and telling him to buck up and stop being so distracted on the court.

It happens again the next day during practice, until Riko looks ready to throw the whistle at him.

Kagami finds himself relegated to the benches, with firm instructions to sort out his personal problems out before he’s allowed back on the court.

“I can play just fine,” Kagami grumbles to himself, picking at the shoelaces on his sneakers. He reaches out with one hand to grab his water bottle but ends up slapping it into someone’s chest instead, who responses with an “Ow.”

Kagami draws back his hand in shock, letting out a rather unmanly (to his ears) yelp. He could have sworn that spot was empty before, but there’s Kuroko now, looking back at him unblinkingly, while rubbing at the spot Kagami had slapped into, frowning.

“Kuroko— what the hell, quit sneaking up on me like that!” Kagami yells.

“I didn’t sneak up on you, Kagami-kun. You were completely distracted,” Kuroko replies. His next words, delivered in his usual steady voice, makes Kagami flinch and seems to cut deeper than Riko’s and Hyuuga’s combined shouting earlier. “You aren’t even focused on basketball today.”

Kagami can’t even bring himself to refute that. He knows he’s messing up today, caused by his own stupid guilt eating at him.

On the court, Hyuuga’s voice echoes up towards the tall ceiling of the gym as he yells at someone for nearly smacking him with the ball.

“Have you… have you spoken to Kise lately?” Kagami asks, hesitant. He doesn’t want to admit it, but he misses seeing Kise at their practices. Kise who would be busy fluffing Kuroko’s hair and throwing salacious remarks at Kagami, loudly cheering at him scoring, bringing a little brightness every time.

“He texted me last night about playing basketball with Aomine-kun today.” Kuroko tilts his head in curiosity. “Why?”

“What? No, I just thought he was. You know, coming back. He hasn’t been here lately,” Kagami finishes lamely.

Kuroko, of course, gets right to the point. “Is this about what you said to Kise-kun the other day?”

“Ehhh?” Kagami panics, and is about to deny everything when Kuroko fixes him with a stare, his usual I-know-when-you’re-lying look.

“You’ve been very different since your outburst, Kagami-kun, so I know it’s because of what happened with Kise-kun. You’re feeling guilty.”

Kagami feels himself deflating at the Kuroko’s tone. “I didn’t mean to talk to Kise like that,” he mumbles out lamely. “I thought he’d be here to see you. Then I could… I could apologize.”

Instead of answering, Kuroko fixes him a long and steady look. Kagami shifts uneasily. “What? Do I have food on my face or somethi-”

“Kagami-kun, do you know why Kise was here to watch our practice for the past week?” Kuroko interrupts.

Kagami’s face flushes. “He did say it was because of you,” he says. “I guess he has a crush on you.” It hurts a little, to admit that out loud.

Kuroko gives him a look of _are you seriously that thick_ , before finally answering. “Kise-kun was here to see _you_ ,” Kuroko points out. “Not me.”

Kagami’s mouth drops open slightly at this declaration. “What? I thought he came here to see — he was practically all over you!”

“Kise-kun and I are only friends. I’ve told you this many times, and him as well, even back in middle school.”

“But… the tickets?” Kagami’s mind is spinning, his thoughts jumbled in confusion. “I heard him asking you out on a date! To some show!”

Kuroko stares at him. “He was going to ask _you_ to go with him,” he answers, as Kagami thinks, _me?_ , before adding, “while I accompanied Aomine-kun.”

Kagami’s jaw dropped open stupidly. Kuroko… and Aomine? No wonder Aomine had been ready to tear Kagami a new skin for being Kuroko’s partner, if the two of them were dating.

Then another thought occurred. “But, wait, why me? Why does Kise want me to go with him?”

“Baka-gami,” Kuroko said, sounding almost fond, calling him by the nickname that Aomine had given Kagami, “Do you really not see why?”

Kagami sputters. “Wait, why am _I_ an idiot?” He considers kicking Aomine in the nuts the next time he sees him. “What am I supposed to be seeing-”

“Kise-kun _likes_ you.”

Kagami gapes at him stupidly.

Kuroko lets out a huff of amusement. “You really didn’t know that? He was always looking at you, even when you weren’t paying attention to him.”

His mind is reeling, trying to decipher this new bit of information. Kise _likes_ Kagami.

Kagami ponders over this for another half a minute, before he comes to a decision. “Where’s Kise meeting Aomine?”

* * *

The minute practice is over, Kagami races out of the gym, stopping only to grab his bag before running towards the park. When he reaches it, he heads straight for the basketball court. It’s filled with several players mostly still in their school uniforms, as he scans the area, but there’s no sign of Kise or even Aomine.

Kagami grits his teeth in frustration. “Damn it!” he swears, smacking one hand against the metal fence and startling a pigeon nearby.

“I see you’re still as a moron like always, _Baka-gami_ ” he hears the familiar drawl behind him, and he spins around, coming face to face with Aomine.

A few steps away, he can see Kise ducking behind a tree.

“Kise-” Kagami starts to say as he takes a step forward. But before he can go any further, he finds him path being blocked by Aomine, and he has a hand placed against Kagami’s chest, pushing him back.

“What do you think _you’re_ doing?” Kagami hisses, trying to push Aomine’s hand off. “Get out of my way, I need to talk to Kise, damn it!”

“Shut up, idiot. What do you think you’re doing?” Aomine demands in a low voice. “Why do you need to talk to Kise?”

“None of your business-”

Aomine snorts, crossing his arms and giving Kagami an annoyed look. “You’re still not going near him. Not if you continue being an asshole to him.”

Kagami winces. “He told you what happened.” It’s a statement, rather than a question. He peers over Aomine’s shoulder, catching sight of Kise who’s peeking out to watch them, before Aomine moves once more to block his view. “Hey, what the hell?”

“Listen, idiot. Whatever you were planning on telling Kise, you can forget it.”

Kagami bristles at the implications. “I just wanted to apologize to him, okay? Look, I said some stupid things, but that was because I thought he was in love with Kuroko!” His eyes widen as the words he’s just uttered spill out before he can stop himself. “Shit, I didn’t mean to -”

Aomine swats the back of Kagami’s head in response, and he yelps in surprise. “Tetsu? Seriously? Why would you think that?”

“That’s what I’d like to know too.”

Behind Aomine, Kagami can see that Kise has pulled himself away from his hiding place, and is standing much nearer now, his arms crossed while looking at Kagami expectantly.

Waiting.

For an answer.

Crap.

“You were… you were all over Kuroko. I just… thought that you were going after him. That you liked him. Urm. And the date,” Kagami mumbles out.

Kise just gives him an exasperated look, as Aomine lets out a bark of laughter.

“Oh, this is awesome, I should have brought along something to record this when I heard you were coming here.”

“What the f- wait, you knew??” Kagami almost screeches.

“Tetsu texted me right after you left the school gym. He said you were on your way to embarrassing yourself apologizing to Kise, so I had to stick around to see it for myself,” Aomine is grinning now, that evil bastard. “This is much, much better than I had expected.”

“Aominecchi…” Kise begins warningly, and Aomine holds up his hands in mock surrender.

“Okay, okay! Sheesh, I’ll leave you two _lovebirds_ alone now.” Kagami feels his face heating up at the phrase, but even more apparent is how Kise’s ears turns bright red, and two spots of pink appear on his cheeks instantly.

Neither one of them notices Aomine leaving, standing there staring at each other.

“Kise,” Kagami finally breaks the silence. “I’m… I’m sorry. I was… I think I might have been pissed off because… I was jealous.”

“Jealous?” Kise asked incredulously, “Wait, Kagamicchi, why were you jealous-”

“I thought you were asking Kuroko out. To. Urm. Date. And I didn’t like that at all.” Kagami is staring down at the ground, avoiding Kise’s gaze. This is the most embarrassing thing he’s ever had to do. He can feel his face and neck heating up and he wishes the ground would just swallow him - damn it, why was this harder than playing basketball!

“Hey,” he hears Kise speak finally, before he steps closer, into Kagami’s space. He feels a warm hand placed on his shoulder, gingerly at first, petting it before pulling away.

Kagami grabs at the hand, and holds it there, looking up to meet Kise’s eyes, soft and gentle, sparkling like sunlight on water. He can’t bring himself to say it out loud, to admit his crush, not yet, but he pours everything he has into his gaze, hoping the Kise _gets it_.

He holds his breath, waiting for Kise to say something, _anything_.

“I like you too,” Kise finally admits, blushing at his own words, but he doesn’t stop looking at Kagami.

Kagami’s hand moves; his thumb brushes against Kise’s lips, tracing the curves, soft and warm. Kagami can’t help but wonder what it would be like to kiss them. He wonders if it would it be any different from kissing a girl (his only experience has been Alex, and no, that was just too weird for him), so Kagami leans closer —

“Oi, perverts, I can still see you!” Aomine’s annoying shout cuts in from some distance away, startling a few more pigeons.

Kagami is going to _kill_ him.

He settles for grabbing a rock from the ground and flinging it towards Aomine’s direction instead, but he clearly misses as Aomine sidesteps it neatly before disappearing from their view, all the while cackling evilly away.

Kise, apparently, is laughing as well.

“Shut up,” Kagami grumbles, but he can’t help giving Kise a small smile, enjoying the sound of his laughter. Kise grins at him in response, before he leans closer and plants a soft kiss on his cheek, lingering for a moment as Kagami holds his breath, surprised.

Their fingers somehow end up tangled together, gripping tightly.

After a few more minutes of standing there looking at each other stupidly, Kagami decides to speak first. Or rather, his stomach does it for him, growling loud enough to send Kise giggling again. “I’m hungry. Do you… do you want to get a burger with me?”

Kise stops laughing. He stares at him. “Kagamicchi… are you asking me out on date?” he asked, his mouth breaking out in a huge grin.

Kagami sputters. “What, I’m not -” he starts to say, but it’s Kise’s earnest look, and the fact that they’re _still holding hands_ that stops him.

“Well,” Kagami finally says, sounding embarrassed even to his own ears, “I guess, yeah.” He knows that he’s blushing again, his cheeks heating up slowly. “It’s a date.”

Kise’s look of happiness makes it all worth it.


End file.
